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Paradise of Infinity: 225
🕑 Added 2022-09-05 15:31:27 +0000 UTCTitle: The Dark Age (5)
The sound of rushed footsteps echoed within the sewerage line of Phoenix City as a portly, old-aged man jogged barely alongside a bald, tattooed boy who has his eyes 'glued' shut by dark material. Huffing and constantly sweating due to physical exertion while feeling his heart almost jump out of his chest in an open rebellion, the old man gasped, "Aang, leave me be. Remember me not as the old man who could not run but the passionate tea maker who was beloved by all... well, not my brother, obviously..."
The boy suddenly turned back and dragged the end of his staff across the stone wall as a section of it was pulled out, causing a lot of soldiers to drive into the ledge of the wall and fall back with pained groans while Aang awkwardly moved his body to create a tide of sludge that instantly drowned the guards and froze over them.
"I never knew Toph had it so hard without eyes but I'm sure she would consider this a good training for me," Aang chose to pick on the positive aspect of his situation before looking back at Iroh with a humored grin, "Master Iroh, I, the Avatar, has also mastered Sludgebending. An ancient art lost in tides of time."
Bent over his knees and still huffing, Iroh shook his head, "Nik taled a story where he did the same thing months ago... master pee bending and you'll manage to actually top him over."
Aang's smile froze for a second before he chuckled and began to jog, "We should leave. Others will come after us soon enough and we still haven't thought of a way to save them."
Iroh huffed and nodded. Instead of jogging, he chose to powerwalk that would not make his belly bounce up and down.
The duo continued to drift through the sewer lines of the city with only one objective— to hide long enough until they formulated a plan good enough in their books to save their friends and family.
But their nomadic ways were cut short promptly when Iroh and Aang stumbled across a pair of red-cloaked individuals standing in front of their paths for an unknown duration. Coming to a stop and quickly readying themselves for the battle, the duo was surely slammed sideways by the turn of events when the cloaked individuals knelt on the dirty cobblestoned edge of the sewer and whispered, "We longed to see you, Avatar," one of them spoke in a soft, feminine voice as Iroh's brows twitched at the sight of both of these mysterious figures. Even Aang frowned as he could only feel the two kneeling individuals pull back the hood of their cloaks VERY lightly... it was as if they were almost weightless despite sitting.
Something that Toph was annoyed about Aang and in return, Aang was annoyed about the duo.
"Aang..." Iroh gasped softly while the realization struck the boy, too.
'Twinkletoes...' Aang recalled the nickname Toph gave him and gaped somewhat. He didn't need to see the male and the female individuals kneeling in front of him. With the bald male youth boasting a red, arrow-shaped tattoo over his forehead that extended past his neck, and the similarly female teen with her brown hair tied up and revealing an arrow-shaped tattoo in the center of the forehead still kneeling and looking over at Aang with almost reverent expression, the boy couldn't help but gulp.
"Master Iroh... I sense one of them is bald... and the other one isn't... wait, one of their heads is also without hair but the bald one has long hair..." Aang frowned and Iroh resisted the urge to comment. It was clear that one Nut Crushing Plunderer of a Messiah rubbed off on the Avatar a little too much while the kneeling duo looked at one another and decided to ignore the comment in a silent agreement given that the Avatar was functionally blind. But a somewhat annoyed glint flashed past the woman's eyes as her fair cheeks grew reddish.
"Aang... I think they are airbenders," Iroh whispered but did not dare lower his guard and Aang was the same.
"Astute observation, Master... But I was led to believe that I'm the last Airbender."
"You aren't," the woman spoke, "Avatar Aang, my name is Hina. For certain past circumstances, we are incapable of leaving Phoenix City but we are here to help you."
Aang frowned, "I don't believe you."
*Chap*
*Chap*
*Chap*
Soft but rushed sounds echoed in the tunnel as if someone was running over water and the woman stood up alongside her partner, "We have no time to waste. Other airbenders... the ones fully indoctrinated by Fire Nation's propaganda are trying to find us as we speak! If they capture you, all hope will be lost! Please, believe us, siblings. We are here to help."
Iroh and Aang stood their ground and the youth finally spoke, "Airbenders are spiritual and their bending is dependent on their spirituality. Even if misguided... those airbenders are masters of the art and we alone cannot defeat them. We have been waiting for you... for over a hundred years, Avatar Aang. We also have... Monk Gyatso's message."
Aang's expression finally changed somewhat while Iroh patted Aang's shoulder, "We'll be fighting either way so I suppose it's better to fight two of you than a whole team of airbenders... who are as aggressive as firebenders."
"How do we escape?" Aang questioned as Hina replied promptly with a collected smile, "We may not leave Phoenix City physically, but this century did allow us to... become more spiritual in more ways than one. Please," she pushed her hand against the wall of the tunnel and it strangely slipped within the wall as if it was some form of a phantom. Iroh's eyelids twitched in surprise as he looked at the duo strangely once again.
---
A group of cloaked men appeared on the spot where Aang, Iroh, Hina, and her brother had been present only after a few minutes. All these men held staves similar to the ones in Aang's and Nik's possession. Failing to find Aang and Iroh, the group of eight moved on without wasting a single breath.
---
"Welcome to the spirit world," Hina chimed with a smile as the starry sky looked especially vibrant with the cosmic colors decorating the sky in an enchanting manner only for Aang and Iroh to reveal a somewhat... placated response.
"Oh, I know what this world is. Ah... I also sense two spirits there," Aang pointed to his right while Iroh stroked his beard, "And with how they just ran, they're probably the curious type but also timid."
Hina's lips parted in surprise while her brother questioned with an incredulous expression, "Wait, Avatar Aang, aren't you supposed to be 12 years old? Even if an Avatar, you're just a kid. How did you manage to enter the spirit world before?" He assumed so given Aang's and Iroh's reactions.
"And you 'look' like a youth? What is with... youths judging me for my age? First, it was Zuko, and now... what is your name?"
"Niwan." The youth replied.
"Well, Niwan... we can discuss everything else. But first, I need to know what message are you talking about... from Monk Gyatso."
Before he could continue or pull back as he felt Hina extend her hand towards him, Aang felt a warm current of chi flow through him, "Niwan spent many years honing his airbending skills but I was always able to bend chi in its purer state. I don't have a name for it but a bender can cleanse someone else with this technique."
Aang heard it while feeling the black crust-like substance over his eyes vaporize away and provide him with a blurred vision until he was finally able to see a fair-skinned girl with a pointed red tattoo and a kind smile despite her slightly simple features. His eyes widened and his lips parted for a second as Hina's hands were still on his forehead and the other one over his chest.
"Whoa..." Aang whispered, his gaze completely drawn into Hina's large eyes as her smile grew a bit sincere and broadened.
"I can see that your vision has returned, Aang," Hina spoke as he blinked and couldn't help but speak what he had 'learned' by constantly interacting in his environment, "No, stay... I still... cannot see clearly."
Iroh pursed his lips and looked at Niwan who had an awkward expression, too.
"Then, I'll stay until you can observe everything clearly," Hina nodded.
"Thanks... your airbending tattoo... is of a different color. Does it signify a different realm of mastery or understanding?" Aang questioned before smiling wryly, "Boy, we both stink like sewers, huh..."
Hina blinked and pulled back with her smile withdrawn, too, and Iroh shook his head.
'Too close... but the experience will make it up for it sooner or later,' Thinking as such while also keeping the urgency of the situation in mind, he looked at the trio of airbenders and spoke seriously, "Spirit World is not a location to be trifled with. Let's discuss things as quickly as possible and return less we attract the wrong kind of attention. And the quickest way happens to be understanding your situation so that Aang doesn't dwell on it and can focus on tackling... Grim, was it?"
Aang nodded, "Grim and Reaper..."
Niwan and Hina looked at one another and exhaled a quiet sigh before the elder of the duo, Niwan, began, "Avatar Aang, after Avatar Roku disappeared, tensions began to grow amongst the four elemental practices that had developed into their own cultural civilizations.
The Traditionalistic Northern Water Tribe: which eventually branched out into Southern Water Tribe.
The Fire Nation: Which improved rapidly in its ability to produce weapons destined to cause a war far too long for anyone's good.
The Earthen Kingdom: That bore the major brunt of the war for the coming years.
The Air Temples: That were thoroughly ravaged.
The war started on a day that would be considered a celebration of Avatar Roku's achievements— The Roku Festival. It... comes to pass three months later, in the last month of the year."
Sighing sadly, Niwan continued, "Fire Lord Sozin invited everyone from the Air Temples. The Northern-Southern Air Temples are inhabited by Abbots, Monks, and male airbending students and all of them left for the festival— never to return. But... the Eastern-Western Air Temples are inhabited by Priestesses and children which they nurture until eventually men and women are separated so that we may keep a mind unfettered by the basest of desires. As such... many pregnant priestesses and their caretakers remained in the temples alongside... children."
Aang bit his lip but continued to stand tall. This was the first time he was hearing the full account from whom seemed to be the witness of the act itself.
"Hina was born to the Priestess I was taking care of. But she, and the other airbenders left, were caught off guard when the news of the ambush eventually reached them by a few airbenders that managed to escape to warn others. Many Priestesses wanted to escape into hiding and take care of the young ones in solitude to raise us well and nurture us. A few escaped. Many children were brought away. The Priestess that gave birth to Hina and a few others could not move easily after bearing the burdens of childbirth so I decided to stay, too."
Looking at Hina, Niwan revealed a slightly exhausted smile, "She was supposed to leave with one of the airbenders but... being one of the most spiritual locations, the surroundings of the air temple was infected by our panic and she happened to have been taken away by a mischievous spirit. As you have seen... their mischief can also be catastrophic in certain circumstances. I, and the Airbender Monk by the name of Gyatso who returned to our temple to warn us— injured, looked for Hina. It took us days. But we did. Alas, it was too late..."
With his tone turning to a grim note, Niwan whispered, "The Fire Nation knocked on our doorsteps. It was a massacre. Only Hina and I were the young ones that even remained in the Eastern Temple and we hid. I... I saw our mothers and sisters being killed in cold blood. When one lone firebender caught sight of me, he prepared to kill the two of us, too. But... Monk Gyatso saved us. And..."
Niwan shook his head, "And he 'pushed' us. Even through that massacre, I remembered his words— When you meet the Avatar... tell him. I will always be waiting for him when the time is right...— One second I was in the eastern temple but after I came OUT of that wall Monk Gyatso pushed me into... I was at Eastern Temple once again... only that many years had passed. I came to this world 14 years ago..."
***
A/N: It may sound crazy but Avatar world alongside Kung Fu Panda's spirit realm is one of the craziest worlds ever! Primordial Spirits (Gods of different verses like Mother of Faces) is a more grounded concept here that just makes everything wackier!! But that isn't going to stop me from stirring shit up...
***
Alternate Title: Back To The Future
